What to see, hear and do this week, April 2–8

DANCE

In Plain Site. The acclaimed Trisha Brown Dance Company performs a series of site-specific work set outdoors across Emory’s campus. April 7–8. Emory University Quad.

Giselle. Acclaimed dancer Sergei Polunin performs as Albrecht and ballerina Svetlana Zakharova performs the title role in Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography for the classic ballet broadcast from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. April 8 at 12:55 p.m. Area movie theaters.

BOOKS

(Courtesy the artist, Whitespace, ACAC)

Vesna Pavlović, Lost Art: Photography, Display, and the Archive. A panel discussion moderated by art historian and professor Jordan Amirkhani considers the release of the first volume to focus on the work of the Nashville-based Serbian-American photographer Vesna Pavlović. April 5 at 7 p.m. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.

Sinéad Morrissey.The acclaimed Irish poet reads from her work at Emory in celebration of National Poetry Month. April 3 at 5:30 p.m. Rose Library, Emory University.

Menno Schilthuizen, Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution. In his new book, the evolutionary biologist shows that evolution can happen extremely quickly in the heart of the city.April 5 at 7 p.m. Carter Library.

Jimmy Smith, Season in the Sun: The Rise of Mickey Mantle. The Atlanta-based writer brings us the tale of Mickey Mantle’s 1956 season, when the batter overcame a host of injuries and critics to become the most celebrated athlete of his time. April 2 at 7 p.m. Carter Library.

Jessica Handler at the Wren’s Nest. The Atlanta-based author discusses her memoir Invisible Sisters about coming of age as the daughter of progressive Jewish parents who moved south to participate in the social-justice movements of the 1960s and as a healthy sister living in the shadow of her sibling’s illness. April 4 at 7 p.m. Wren’s Nest.

FILM

Alison Chernick’s new documentary considers the life and legacy of violinist Itzhak Perlman. (Courtesy Greenwich Entertainment)

Being Mary Jane. As part of a series considering “Black Lives on the Small Screen,” Emory Cinematheque screens episodes of Mara Brock’s show, BET’s first hour-long scripted drama, about a television news anchor. April 4 at 7:30 p.m. White Hall 208, Emory University.

Adoption Stories Short Docs Festival. Avondale Towne Cinema hosts an evening of short documentaries focusing on the subject of adoption. April 2 at 7:30 p.m. Avondale Towne Cinema.

ART + DESIGN

People standing behind a floral cross at the burial service for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Atlanta, Georgia, April 9, 1968 (Courtesy of Chicago History Museum)

Weeping May Endure for a Night: The Funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Through the Lens of Declan Haun. A new exhibition shows 25 photographs captured by the late Declan Haun, a Chicago freelance photojournalist assigned to cover the King funeral in Atlanta. Through November 4. Margaret Mitchell House.

The 50th Commemoration of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Free admission to the Center for Civil and Human Rights commemorates the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination in 1968. April 4. Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Expression: Closing Party. A night of art and music featuring Visitors, Hommeboy and DJ Genesis marks the end of the first exhibition at the new Peters Street Station community center. April 7 at 7 p.m. Peters Street Station.

Atlanta Streets Alive. Sections of Dekalb Avenue close to cars to allow for a 4.4 mile pedestrian thoroughfare for participants to to walk, roll, bike and play. April 8 from 2–6 p.m. Dekalb Avenue.

Frederick D. Jones Jr. and the Social Surreal. An exhibition of works drawn from the museum’s permanent collection considers the work of Chicago artist Frederick D. Jones Jr. in relation to the art movement known as social surrealism. Through May 25. Clark Atlanta University Museum.

Choice + Peter Bahouth: Recognition. Atlanta Photography Group presents two concurrent exhibitions: Choice, a group show featuring self-chosen work by more than 30 artists, and Recognition, a site-specific installation featuring new stereoscopic portraits by Peter Bahouth. Through April 28.Atlanta Photography Group.

Pete Schulte: The Lamplighter. The artist unveils new works on paper and a wall installation in the main gallery at Whitespace and site-specific projects in both of the gallery’s ancillary spaces, whitespec and shedspace. Through May 5.Whitespace Gallery.

Mexicantown, A Liminal Blur. Renowned Atlanta-based practice Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam Architects present their firm’s contribution to the United States Pavilion at the 15th Architecture Biennale: a proposal for renewal in the Mexicantown neighborhood of Detroit. Through April 27. Stubbins Gallery, Georgia Tech.

Lucinda. Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia presents an exhibition of works by Lucinda Bunnen from its permanent collection, including a recent new portfolio acquisition as well as four new works from her Nicaragua series. Through May 19.MOCA-GA.

Easy Air. A new group exhibition features work by Ridley Howard, Scott Ingram and Christina West alongside two solo exhibitions, Craig Drennen’s Painters and Tyler Beard’s Shorelines. Through May 12. Hathaway Gallery.

Dale Niles: Life Revisited. The Georgia artist presents a new exhibition of photographic collage. Through April 18. Brickworks Gallery.

Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace: The Doughboys, 1917–1918. A centennial touring exhibition from the National War Museum and Memorial features contemporary photographs by Michael St. Maur Sheil capturing the battlefields of the Western Front. Through July 5. Atlanta History Center.

A Journey Through Time: Works of the American Guild of Judaic Art. A juried exhibition presents works from the American Guild of Judaic Art including paintings, weavings, quilts, sculpture, jewelry and photography. Through May 10. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.

Keris Salmon: We Have Made These Lands What They Are. The Brooklyn-based photographer’s work combines words and images to reflect on African American and familial history. Through April 6. Arnika Dawkins Gallery.

The Future ofAmerica. A group show curated by Rebecca Dimling Cochran focuses on youth culture and features work by CYJO, Ruth Dusseault, Lauren Greenfield, Rania Matar, Forest McMullin, Bryan Melts and Darnell Wilburn. Through April 28. Hudgens Center for the Arts.

The Finnish Illusion. A new exhibition shows work by contemporary Finnish artists Ilona Cutts, Katja Tukiainen and Maria Wolfram. Through April 28. Spruill Gallery.

Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age. An exhibition originated by the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands, shows furniture designs from throughout the career of innovative Dutch designer Joris Laarman. ArtsATL’s Gail O’Neill interviewed the designer as the exhibition opened. Through May 13. High Museum.

The Paul R. Jones Collection. The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia presents an exhibition of selections from one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of 20th-century African American art in the world, amassed over decades by the late collector Paul Raymond Jones. Through April 14. MOCA GA.

Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt. An exhibition of more than 90 objects from the ancient Egyptian collections of the Brooklyn Museum and the Carlos Museum explores wild and domestic cats and dogs, feline and canine deities, animal burial practices and luxury items decorated with feline and canine features. Through November 11. Carlos Museum.

Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi. A new exhibition of the artist’s work features more than 50 collages, paintings and hand-painted serigraphs considering girlhood, self-image and the dysfunctional legacy of colorism. Through May 19. Spelman Museum of Art.

Laura Wilson: That Day. An exhibition of more than 60 large-scale images of the American West by the former assistant to Richard Avedon. Through April 29. Booth Western Museum of Art.

Carrie Mae Weems: From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried. Hammonds House exhibits the artist’s 1996 work based on found archival photographs of enslaved people in the American South, alongside People of A Darker Hue, Weems’ 2016 film about police violence. Through April 29. Hammonds House Museum.

¡NUEVOlution! Latinos and the New South. A new exhibition considers the contributions and history of Latinos in the South. Through December 31. Atlanta History Center.

“A Fire That No Water Could Put Out”: Civil Rights Photography. An installation of more than 40 photographs primarily drawn from the High’s permanent collection reflects on the 50th anniversary of a tumultuous year in Civil Rights history. ArtsATL‘s Kelundra Smith reviewed the show. Through April 29. High Museum.

Out of Darkness, Two Remain. The Atlanta Opera presents a production of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s new operatic theater piece focusing on the stories of two Holocaust survivors. April 5–15. Theatrical Outfit.

Christian Sands.The renowned jazz pianist performs a concert at the Woodruff Arts Center as part of the Emerging Jazz Icons series presented by the Atlanta Jazz Festival. April 7 at 8 p.m. Rich Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center.

Jonathan Biss Plays Beethoven. The pianist performs all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in a series of intimate recitals over the span of two seasons. April 4 at 8 p.m. Symphony Hall.

Savannah Music Festival. A celebration of music across all genres brings world-class musicians to Savannah, GA, for two weeks of concerts and events. Through April 14.Various venues, Savannah.

THEATER

El Gran Día de la Madre/The Great Mother’s Day. Irma Cristancho, Joselin Reyes and Limara Meneses Jimenez perform in Aurora Theatre’s production of Chascas & Quintanilla’s comedy about three generations of women as they have a Mother’s Day reckoning in the family mausoleum. In Spanish with English supertitles. April 6–29. Aurora Theatre.

A Woman Killed with Kindness. Resurgens Theatre Company presents an original practice production of Thomas Heywood’s 1603 tragedy directed by Dr. Brent Griffin. April 9–13. Shakespeare Tavern.

The Jew Catcher.Onion Man Productions presents a new production of David L. Fisher’s drama about a Los Angeles Jewish community’s reaction when a Holocaust survivor spots a man from her past. April 6–22. Onion Man Productions, Chamblee.

Play the Play with Cat the Cat.Alliance Theater reprises its children’s production based on Mo Willems’ beloved CAT the CAT series. April 7–29. Alliance Black Box Theatre.

Love’s Labour’s Lost. Three young men try to honor a pledge to avoid the opposite sex, food, drink and sleep, for the sake of becoming more intellectual and contemplative in Shakespeare’s classic comedy. Through April 22.Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse.

Hospice + Pointing at the Moon. As part of its on-the-road season, the Alliance Theatre presents the world premieres of two one-act plays by playwright-in-residence Pearl Cleage at the Southwest Fulton Arts Center. Through April 15. Southwest Fulton Arts Center.

Mass Appeal. Stage Door presents a new production of Bill C. Davis’ two-character play about a complacent elderly pastor and an idealistic young deacon. Through April 15. Stage Door Players.

Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat. The Center for Puppetry Arts’ Jon Ludwig directs a puppet version of the National Theatre of Great Britain’s musical adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss’ children’s story. Through May 13. Center for Puppetry Arts.

Freaky Friday. Horizon presents a new production of the Disney family musical about a mother and daughter who switch places. Through April 22. Horizon Theatre.

Mamma Mia. Aurora presents a new production of the ABBA jukebox musical. Through April 22. Aurora Theatre.

Andrew Alexander is an Atlanta-based arts journalist who covers theater, visual art, dance, music, books, fashion, film and opera. He has twice been voted "Atlanta’s Best Critic" by readers of Atlanta alt-weekly Creative Loafing in the publication’s annual "Best of Atlanta" issue, and local arts website Burnaway has dubbed him “Atlanta’s favorite critic.” He was a 2015 Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, and in 2014 he was selected to participate in the Arts Writing Workshop, a partnership between the International Art Critics Association and the Creative Capital-Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program, for a mentorship with renowned Wall Street Journal art critic Peter Plagens. He can’t dance, but he performed a supernumerary role in Nick Cave’s 2015 performance work "Rise Up, Atlanta," and soon after he curated and DJ-ed the dance performance event Honey, You Know Where to Find Me presented by the Lucky Penny in June of 2015. He loves art, travel, bourbon and old records.